Dr Libby Watson

Dr Libby Watson obtained her BSc in Psychology (1st-class honours) at the University of Sheffield in 2005 and completed her Professional Doctorate in Clinical Psychology at the University of East London (UEL) in 2011. On completion of her Doctorate, Libby was awarded the UEL School of Psychology’s research prize for outstanding academic and research achievement. Her thesis, entitled “Managing overweight: Children’s stories of their journey through treatment and beyond” explored young people’s experiences of attending the UK’s largest community weight management programme — MEND (www.mendfoundation.org) — in collaboration with Dr Paul Chadwick and Dr Martyn Baker. The manuscript may be accessed via UEL’s Research Open Access Repository (ROAR): http://hdl.handle.net/10552/3715 After completing her Professional Doctorate, Libby worked in specialist Long Term Health Condition (LTC) and weight management NHS services before joining a London IAPT (Improving Access to Psychological Therapies) service where she became Clinical Lead for LTCs. Libby began lecturing on the BSc (Hons) Counselling programme at UEL in January 2015 — the first undergraduate course in London to have obtained accreditation with the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP). She is part of a dedicated team of academics and practitioners who are proud of the programme’s pluralistic philosophy and approach to widening access and valuing diversity. Libby is currently working towards becoming an accredited Cognitive Analytic Therapy (CAT) Practitioner (www.acat.me.uk) and is expected to complete in July 2016. CAT is an integrative and creative therapy that invites clients on a journey of self-discovery as they explore how they relate to both themselves and others.

Cognitive Analytic Therapy (CAT)
Third-wave CBT approaches
Long-term health conditions (with particular focus on pain and obesity)
Self and identity including the constructs of introversion–extraversion
Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA)